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The effects of a series of after school family writing workshops on students' writing achievement and attitudes

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THE EFFECTS OF A SERIES OF AFTER SCHOOL FAMILY WRITING
WORKSHOPS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES
by
Veronica Plascencia
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Veronica Plascencia

This dissertation focuses on involving parents in improving their children's writing achievement and their attitudes toward writing through a series of family writing workshops in which students and their parents engage in writing projects. Specifically, this dissertation examined three key areas: (1) the effects of family writing workshops on students' writing achievement, (2) the effects of family writing workshops on students' writing attitudes, and (3) the perceptions of students, parents, and teachers of the effects of a series of family writing workshops.; A total of 60 fourth through eighth grade students from four urban schools, their parents, and four teachers were included in this quantitative and qualitative study. Writing assessments, a writing attitude survey, observational checklist, and student, parent, and teacher perception questionnaires were used to determine the impact of the family writing workshops on participating students.; Results from this study suggest that students who participated in the family writing workshops as the treatment group made improvement in some areas of writing when compared to students in the control group. Additionally, students in the treatment group developed more positive attitudes toward writing than those in the control group. Observational data indicated that the workshops were implemented with complete or almost complete fidelity, demonstrating that changes could in part be attributed to the workshops. Furthermore, perception questionnaires revealed that students, parents, and teachers agreed that the workshops benefited all participants in several ways that far surpassed the areas of student writing achievement and attitudes.; Implications for future research and teacher and parent recommendations are included in this study.

i
THE EFFECTS OF A SERIES OF AFTER SCHOOL FAMILY WRITING
WORKSHOPS ON STUDENTS’ WRITING ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTITUDES
by
Veronica Plascencia
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2008
Copyright 2008 Veronica Plascencia